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quoxcli

Stop an agent instantly

Machine verified A machine ran this on our install and checked the result against the CLI. A test report is linked. CLI 0.3.1, checked 2026-10-15.

How do I stop an agent now?

The kill switch for one agent and the dial for the whole install, learned before you need them.

What you get: a way to halt an agent that is doing the wrong thing, right now, enforced by the server, so the agent cannot talk its way past it.

Ask Quox

Section titled “Ask Quox”

Before you reach for the kill switch, ask where things stand:

quox · talking to Quox

What is the current safety level, and are any agent kill switches active?

▤ AOCL │ L1 identity complete · allowed · 0ms

▤ AOCL │ L3 policy gate complete · proceed · 3ms

◐ SAFETY │ status ✔ SAFETY │ status │ 0 killSwitches · 2.3s

⛓ AEE │ envelope opened · stream_success

The safety level is GREEN, and no agent kill switches are active. That reading came from
the live safety status just now, so every agent can currently be dispatched normally.

16.3s · 1 tool · 0 approvals

A real turn on our own install (CLI 0.3.0, 15 Oct 2026), replayed at speed. Names changed. Type the same words into quox.
✔ Machine verified against the CLI on 15 Oct 2026 · test report mv8yiu

Quox read the live safety status: the install’s DEFCON level and the list of agents that have been stopped. Reading changes nothing, so no approval was needed.

Do it yourself

Section titled “Do it yourself”

1. Look before you pull

Section titled “1. Look before you pull”
the safety state 
# is anything halted?quox safety statusorg_id         01KKNK…defcon         GREENkillSwitches   []# what would happen if this agent tried to act right now?quox safety gate commanderqblocked       noescalate      nodefcon        GREENagentHalted   noreason        -# the audit trail is for admins only, and the server says soquox safety historyError: Request failed with status 403Status: 403 Admin access required
From a real run on our own install, as an agent account rather than an admin.

gate shows the verdict a dispatcher gets for that agent: whether it is blocked, whether it must escalate to a human, and why.

2. Stop one agent

Section titled “2. Stop one agent”
the kill switch 
quox safety estop deploy-agent --reason "touching the wrong hosts"# check it tookquox safety gate deploy-agent# when you have looked into itquox safety release deploy-agent
Commands as quox safety --help documents them at 0.3.0. They need a human admin.

Only a human admin can stop or release an agent; the server enforces that, whatever the client says. An agent cannot release its own kill switch.

3. Turn the dial for everything

Section titled “3. Turn the dial for everything”

DEFCON sets the whole install’s posture, from GREEN (normal) through BLUE, AMBER and ORANGE (escalate) to RED (full halt):

Terminal window
quox safety defcon AMBER --reason "unexpected outbound traffic, investigating"
quox safety defcon GREEN --reason "cleared"

What just happened

Section titled “What just happened”

The kill switch and the dial are checked by the server before every agent action, not by the agent. Each change carries your reason and lands in the append-only audit trail that quox safety history shows to admins.

Check it yourself

Section titled “Check it yourself”

After a stop, quox safety status lists the agent under killSwitches, and quox safety gate <agent> reports the agent as halted.

Undo

Section titled “Undo”

quox safety release <agent> for one agent; quox safety defcon GREEN for the install.

Next

Section titled “Next”